Summer is here.
Summer with all its life and warmth and fun things. Summer with late nights and camps and plans and ice cream.
And summer with the friends that make it so exciting.
I mean, friends make everything exciting, but there's something about summer that just... can't be without friends. Summer and friends go together like peanut butter and jelly, snow and Christmas, or sunshine and the beach.
Without friends and people and loved ones, our summer wouldn't be the memory-making, life-filled months that they are because friends are important.
So so important.
Your friends - whether they're cousins or schoolmates or neighborhood pals or old college roommates - make up what you think, how you act, and who you are.
It's why parents put such an emphasis on hanging out in the right crowd, and why who your roommates are in college are so monumental.
Friends are important to summer, your beliefs, where you go, how you spend your time, and a whole host of other things.
And friends are just as important in writing as well, which is why I wrote a whole post on the importance of platonic relationships (which I would highly recommend reading even if you're not a writer just to realize how vital friendships are and how much they can affect you).
Whether you're writing contemporary or medieval fiction, thrillers or biographies, friendships matter. The people closest to us matter.
You don't have to have a lot of friends. Some people barely have any friends.
Maybe you barely ever see them, or they live half a world away. Maybe they live next door, or they're related to you. Maybe you've known them from birth, or since last week.
None of that matters - what matters is that friends affect and impact your life and they're important. Important in your life, in summer... and in your writing.
But more than anything else, more than all of that, more important than any neighbor or cousin or sibling is the friend you have in your Savior.
The only Friend that will never leave you.
The only Friend that is always by your side, always next to you, always has your back, and will always and forever love you.
The only Friend that gave up everything for you.
There was a time in my life when I was lonely. So, so lonely. I felt like I didn't have any friends, that I could never see the ones I did have, and... I was just all alone.
Or, that's what I thought.
I was wrong.
I wasn't lonely, didn't have to feel alone because I wasn't. I had a Friend Who never left my side, Who was far better than any earthly friend could ever be, and Who filled me up and chased away the loneliness in a way no one ever could have.
And it was only through that time of loneliness and sadness that I learned Who was really the only friend I could rely on. I learned that people are flawed and sinful and broken, and they'll never be the perfect friend our hearts are desprate for.
We are craving a friendship and a fulfillment that no person can ever fit. No friend is ever going to be perfect... except for Him.
The King Who saved us, Who's holding us in His hands and walking with us every day and never letting go of our hand.
He is our friend.
A perfect, always-there, never-leaving us, never giving up on us, forever loving us, continually forgiving us Friend.
He's the Friend that our hearts desperately need, far better than any earthly friend, and the only One who will ever be the Friend we need.
So, you don't have to be lonely. You don't have to feel alone this summer, even if you don't have many friends around you because He is the only Friend you will ever need.
And this summer, if we start relying on Him and trusting in Him and walking hand in hand with Him... I think it will be a beautiful summer.
Friends are important - for your characters and writing, life and summer.
But it's important that we remember the one Friend that is most important, and run to Him.
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